Back In the Swing

Sorry to all our readers for the long absence. We have been away from work and away from the blogging world in sunny South Carolina on a little vacation with friends for the last 1.5 weeks, but are glad to be back.

We spent some of our down the time at home on a "staycation" and the rest of the time in Edisto Island SC enjoying the beach and some hangout time with some of my oldest and dearest friends, their wives (and one fiance), and kids. Some family highlights are below.

• Ellie telling us on the car ride down, "this long time waiting is driving me crazy."
• Ansley coming up with a new tactic for sympathy by telling us every 5 minutes, "Ellie hit me."
• Leah braving her fear of sharks by getting in the ocean up to her knees and pushing through her hatred of the beach by spending a combined 8 hours actually on the sand!
• Ellie and I going on a boat ride and Ellie getting to drive!
• Ansley learning to really express displeasure by echoing "no" over and over with a growling voice.
• Going on a family bike ride with the girls in the tow-behind trailer and Ellie complaining that I was "getting too tired and slowing down too much"
  

Good times were had by all, but we are now in crunch time. We leave for Ethiopia next Wednesday and last-minute travel preparations are underway. More pictures from this past week will be forthcoming but these are the ones from the boat ride.